Ink fountain for printing presses



y 953 B. B. PERRY mx FOUNTAIN FOR PRINTING PRESSES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 xFiled March 14, 1950 TIE " B/wv ErT B. pE/THY ATTORNEY b514,] 1953 a. B.PERRY ,6 5, 76 Y INK FOUNTAIN FOR PRINTI G asssas Filed Iia-r'h 14, 195p2 sheetsspan 2 BENNETT 5 PERRY &5LW

ATTO EY IE I I I g I 23% hfl 2f- I //2 Patented July 14, 1953 I OFFICEINK FOUNTAIN FOR PRINTING PRESSES Bennett B. Perry, Quincy, Ill.

Application March 14, 1950, Serial No. 149,597

3 Claims.

ihis invention relates to an improvement in an ink fountain for printingpresses and relates primarily to the so called undershot type.Ordinarily the flexible controlling blade of such fountains has an edgeor knife contact with the feed roll and is pushed into such contact by aseries of adjusting screws spaced back from the point of contact.

The primary object of this invention is to eliminate the edge or knifecontact of the controlling blade with the feed roll and to make thiscontact point back from the front edge of the blade and along the upperflat surface of the blade. The adjusting means employed to control thefiow'of ink are spaced forward adjacent the front edge of the blade andbetween said edge and the point of upper surface contact.

A most advantageous object of the invention is to prevent caking anddrying of excess ink being carried from the fountain reservoir at thecontrolling point of contact and also to prevent buckling or jumpingalong the length of the blade.

A further object of the invention is to provide the fountain and bladeadjusting mechanism as a removable unit that can b removed or re placedon a press without disturbing the fountain setting.

A further advantage of this invention is that a fine setting of theblade for a very small amount of ink can be attained in a fraction ofthe time it takes by the old style fountain because by releasing thescrews it automatically closes the opening evenly across the'fountain,but in the old style the screws have to be turned individually in andout to attain the same results, which takes much more time.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an adjustingmechanism for controlling the flow of ink that is always visible andeasily accessible so the danger to the pressman caused by reaching underand below the fountain for adjustment. while the press is in operationis eliminated.

A still further object of the invention is to pro-- vide in an inkfountain fiow. adjusting mechanism that pulls the blade away from feedroll contact rather than pushes the same in contact therewith and alsoto provide a micrometer adjustment for the blade.

These and other objects of the present invention will appear as thefollowing description thereof proceeds, and in order to more clearlyunderstand the invention, reference may be had to the accompanyingdrawings in which:

Figure 1 is a vertical cross section through the ink fountain showingthe main and drive feed rolls in partial elevation.

Figure 2 is a partial longitudinal section on the line 22 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a vertical cross section through the ink fountain showing amodified form of blade contact is along the inner periphery of the roll'I adjacent the bottom. Usual sides retain the ink in the fountain. Theblade is flexible but normally out of contact with the feed roll. Thefront edge of the blade is pushed into contact with the roll peripheryor spaced therefrom to control the flow of ink by a series of spacedscrews underneath the fountain that bear against the underside of theblade at spaced points. Thisform of fountain has the disadvantage of theink caking and drying at the contact point, a tendency of the edge ofthe blade to buckle or warp due to uneven screw control, and theadjusting screws are not very accessible.

The ink fountain that is the subject matter of this invention followsthe same'general form of the conventional type and includes a fountainfeed formed as a unit icomprisihg a sub base 2 along the rear edge ofwhich is formed a raised portion 3. This unit rests at an angle on thebase a of the press and is removably secured thereto by a suitablenumber of screws 5 extending through the base 4 and entering threadedsockets 6 in the bottom .of the portion 3. At the front of the unit is afeed roll I suitably mounted in side trunnions 8. This roll forms thefront of the fountain reservoir and a supplemental drive feed roll 8 isadapted for peripheral contact therewith in the usual manner.

Secured to the upper flat part of the raised portion 3, of the sub base2 of the unit and extending forwardly and downwardly therefrom is theusual flexible spring metal control blade It. This blade issecured inposition by screws S along its rear edge. However instead of the frontedge of theblade- [0 being adapted for edge contact with the roll I itextends beyond said roll but has a spring contact therewith at a point II about inch back from the front edge of the blade. The contact is onthe upper flat surface of the blade and along the length of the same.

To adjust the flat blade contact away from the roll I there is providedalong the front edge of the blade I and in front of the contact point II, a series of bolts I2 having their heads I3 resting on the uppersurface of the blade in secured or unsecured position. The bolts passthrough suitable openings in the blade and also through alined openingsin the front edge of the sub base 2. This sub base is spaced from thebottom of the blade as clearly shown in Figure l. The ends of the boltsI2 are screw threaded at I 4 and on such end of each bolt is mounted aknurled adjusting nut I5 beneath the sub base 2. A coiled compressionspring I6 surrounds the shank of each bolt in the space between theblade and sub base 2 and has end contact with said blade and sub base.

From the foregoing it is obvious that the ink fountain is formed as aunit I comprising the sub base 2, blade I0, feed roll I and adjustingmeans described. As such it may readily be removed from or replaced onthe base 4 of the press without disturbing its adjustment. This allowsfrequent clean ups without loss of time.

In operation the spacing of the blade ID from the flat upper surfacecontact point II with the feed roll I, controls the flow of ink from thefountain. Due to this arrangement there is normally a closed orsubstantially closed spring contact between the blade and roll but thisis on a fiat surface of the blade tangentially with the roll and not anedge contact as usual. This contact is due to the arrangement noted andthe coiled expansion springs IS on the bolts I2 as normally the flexibleblade I0 is out of contact with the roll I. To adjust the opening at thepoint H along the length of the blade I0 the knurled nuts areindividually rotated to draw the blade away from the roll under springtension to the desired degree.

It has been found that the flat upper surface contact between the bladeand the roll eliminates caking and drying of the ink at this point andremoves one of the troublesome disadvantages of the old type of bladeedge contact. Also by shifting the adjusting means for the blade from apoint rearward of the blade contact to a point in front of the same andadjacent the edge of the blade and holding the blade in spring contactwith the roll for pulling away from instead of pushing against the rollgives a much surer and positively controlled adjustment that eliminatedbuckling and warping along the point of contact that destroys thedesired spacing and consequent fiow of the ink. By the arrangement andadjusting means shown and described a constant and controlled flow ofink is maintained. Also the arrangement of the adjusting means along thefront edge of the unit permits ready visible access thereto by thepressman without danger while the press is in operation.

In Figures 3 to -6 inclusive there is illustrated a modified form ofadjustment for the blade I0. The unit I is substantially the same exceptthe front edge of the sub base 2 is raised at I! and there is provided aseries of apertures I8 running transversely therethrough that bisect theopenings I3 through which the bolts I2 pass. The bolts I2 in this formare not threaded and in line with the apertures I8 are provided withtapered openings I9 larger at the inner entrances 4 facing the portion 3of the sub base than the opposite end.

For each bolt there is provided an adjusting screw 20. These screws areof a greater length than the width of the unit I and have a knurled head2| with an adjacent threaded portion 22 that is threadedly engaged incorrespondingly threaded cross openings 23 in the raised rear portion 3of the sub base 2. The stems 24 of the screws 28 are reduced and smoothand each terminates in a tapered end 25 that extends through thetransverse aperture I8 in the front raised portion I! of the sub base 2and is loosely positioned in the correspondingly shaped opening I9 ofthe bolt I2.

The operation of this form of adjusting mechanism is that upon suitablerotating of a screw 28 by the knurled head 2I the tapered end 25 guidedby the aperture I8 of the portion I'I moves in or out of the taperedopening I 9 of the bolt I2 on its lower side and upon contact with thewall of the tapered opening raise or lower the bolt thereby causing theblade ID to be adjusted toward or from the roll 1 at the point |I. Asthe blade is biased in one direction by spring action this arrangementgives a very fine micrometer adjustment for the blade at each pointadjusted.

Although the improved ink fountain for printing presses has beenillustrated and described herein to a detailed extent, it will beunderstood, of course, that the invention is not to be regarded aslimited correspondingly in scope, but includes all variations comingwithin the terms of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An ink fountain comprising a unitary reservoir formed of a sub baseadapted to be secured to a printing press base and including a rear wallformed by an extension on said sub base, side walls, a driven feed rollforming the front face thereof and a bottom forming blade secured to therear wall only and having a flat upper surface contact with a lowerperipheral portion of the feed roll at a point spaced inwardly from thefree edge of said blade, a plurality of individual bolts spaced alongthe free edge of the blade in front of the point of contact andextending downwardly through the sub base, a compression spring on eachbolt between the sub base and blade to normally urge the blade towardthe roll, and an adjustable lock nut on each bolt beneath the sub baseto hold each bolt and the controlled portion of the blade in anyadjusted position with respect to the roll against the tension of thespring.

2. An ink fountain comprising a unitary reservoir formed of a sub baseadapted to be secured to a printing press base and including a rear wallformed by an extension on said sub base, side walls, a driven feed rollforming the front face thereof and a bottom forming blade secured to therear wall only and having a flat upper surface contact with a lowerperipheral portion of the feed roll at a point spaced inwardly from thefree edge of said blade, 2. plurality of individual bolts spaced alongthe free edge of the blade in front of the point of contact andextending downwardly through the sub base, compression springs on eachbolt between the sub base and blade to normally urge the blade towardthe roll, and a series of screws extending forwardly through the subbase and each adapted for engagement with a bolt at right anglesthereto, tapered ends on said screws, and

each bolt having a corresponding opening therethrough for engagementwith the tapered bolt end whereby each bolt and controlled portion ofthe blade may be adjusted with respect to the roll against the tensionof the spring.

3. In combination with a printing press, an

ink fountain comprising a unitary reservoir formed of a sub base adaptedto be removably secured to the printing press base, said fountainincluding a driven feed roll and a blade normally out of pressurecontact with the roll but adapted for a fiat upper surface contact witha lower peripheral portion of the roll at a point tracting meanscooperating with the lower por-- tion of each bolt to withdraw the bladeagainst the tension of the compression springs at individually spacedpoints.

BENNETT B. PERRY.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 124,907 Morse Mar. 26, 1872 144,742 Child Nov. 18, 1873328,760 Mercer Aug. 14, 1906 1,077,882 Holz Nov. 9,1913 1,105,861 StoryAug. 4, 1914 1,932,727 Faulkner Oct. 31, 1933 2,368,176 Trist Jan. 30,1945 2,382,103 Sandman Aug. 14, 1945 2,451,634 Ranger Oct. 19, 1948

